Grey Matters, March 17, 2014; Volume 2, Number 26

On Saturday, I made my second annual pilgrimage to BJ’s to buy this year’s first round of juice boxes and breakfast bars for this week’s MCAS testing period. As usual, I was waiting for BJ’s employees and patrons alike to make snarky comments towards me as I struggled to push my cart through the aisles, loaded down with 1700 juice boxes, and 1500 breakfast bars. I’ll admit I was pretty self-conscious during my visit, feeling like I was being silently judged by those around me. Here’s a photo (click here) of my cart as I was pulling up to the register so you can decide if you would have stared at me as well…..

I do have a number of important reminders to share this week, so please be sure to read each paragraph carefully.

First - Project Wellness is this Wednesday! We look forward to seeing you there. Here are some important things to note:

Registration is from 8am to 8:20am, and then we have welcoming remarks at 8:25.

Everyone will receive their schedule/assigned workshops when they check-in that morning.

Those who have been scheduled into one of the yoga workshops will receive an automated phone call on Tuesday night with information on what to bring/wear.

Families taking the bus to and from RJ Grey should get to RJ Grey by 7:10am on Wednesday. The bus will be leaving promptly at 7:30am. This is for families who have previously signed up for the bus.

Second, MCAS testing begins this week. Tuesday is for 7th grade students only (the Long Composition portion), and then Wednesday and Thursday is for 8th grade students (with Friday being a make-up day for students who were absent. Please note the following:

The High School will be using an adjusted schedule that involves late arrivals for students not participating in MCAS testing. Please note that we are not part of that schedule. The Junior High will have normal start and end times for all students during MCAS testing days.

Please encourage students to get a good night’s rest, and to eat something in the morning. If they miss out on eating at home, they can bring something to eat in class before we begin; and as noted above, we will have juice and breakfast bars available as well.

Third, we can finally confirm the re-scheduled date of the Kevin Breel speaking engagement. The event will now be on Thursday, March 27 at 7pm in the High School auditorium. Click here for a downloadable flyer for the event. You may recall that the PTSO and the AB United Way has been working with Acton-Boxborough to bring Mr. Breel to our community so he can share with us his stories and reflections about depression. For those parents who are wondering whether Mr. Breel’s message and delivery would be a good fit for their child, you might want to view his TED Talk which can be accessed on Youtube by clicking here.

A reminder to parents of 8th grade students that the process for 9th grade (high school) course registration is underway. Members of the high school counseling staff met with students last Wednesday to provide both an overview as well as some worksheets/guides to the process. Everyone can view the Program of Studies (i.e. course descriptions, requirements, etc.) by clicking here. You can access the high school’s directions for the online registration process by clicking here. Students were provided a timeline of deadlines related to the process, and you can view/download a copy of that form by clicking here. That form includes references to a “Time Management” worksheet that is intended to help students navigate the choices that are available to them, and to consider the factors in creating a balanced and reasonable schedule. You can also download a copy of that form by clicking here. Please note that the Parent Portal will not be open for course registration until March 24 (in other words, if you try and go there now, you can’t access it).

Along with the visit from the high school counselors, we had our latest installment of Everyday Leaders last week, and I had the privilege of having my week include lunch with the students who were selected by their teachers. Congratulations to Mitchell Beaudoin, Paige Kelley, Alison Rutyna, Kirsten Forrester, Khant Naing, Anika Mamoon, Riona Chen, Kylie Frank, Erika Sullivan, Joe Lehner, Stephanie Gardner, and Sarah Robertson.

Finally, I want to end with some highlights from last week’s edition of Poetry Friday. Our reader was Bryan Gilman-Orozco of 7 Green, and he read to us “Here in the Time Between” by Jack Ridl. This poem is about…. wait for it…. our longing for Spring, and the need for us to be patient and realize that it is not yet time. Click hereif you’d like to read the poem.